The week ahead kicks off with a Star Wars Day celebration on Monday at Rahway Public Library, where the Star Lab invites visitors to explore constellations and galaxies inside an inflatable planetarium. Also on Monday, a city-run Free Anti-Rabies Clinic opens at the Rahway Recreation Center. Tuesday brings the option of staying indoors or heading outside. There’s a golf outing at Metuchen Golf and Country Club for the Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park’s 12th Annual Golf Outing, or you can head to Woodbridge’s Barron Arts Center, where Gail M. Thompson shares her experiences and observations from “My Trip to Japan”.

On Wednesday, the NY/NJ Gem & Mineral Show opens at the NJ Expo Center in Edison and runs through the weekend. On the same day, the North Edison Branch Library hosts a free “History of Chocolate” talk tracing 5,000 years of cacao culture from Mesoamerica to the modern candy bar. Thursday, Edison Library presents a virtual author talk with Marjan Kamali, author of The Lion Women of Tehran. And for a different kind of screen time, the library’s main branch also hosts a Spider-Man Movie Marathon in anticipation of upcoming releases.

The weekend fills out with something for nearly every taste. Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday afternoon, the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick presents Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, a natural Mother’s Day outing for the Sunday performance. Also opening Friday at Woodbridge’s Barron Arts Center is “Visualize the Score: When Art & Music Converge,” a juried exhibit where artists respond visually to pieces of music. And on Saturday, downtown Rahway hosts the 24th Annual Hot Rods and Harleys street festival, drawing classic cars, custom motorcycles, live music, and food vendors to Irving Street and Elizabeth Avenue.

As always, you can check out our full events calendar for everything happening around Central Jersey, and if you have a community event you’d like listed, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Who Will Fill Rahway's Vacant Council Seat? Three Names, One Vote, Plenty of Politics.

One of the more consequential elections in recent Rahway City Council history won't be decided by residents. It will come from the council itself. Monday at 7 p.m. at City Hall, council members will vote to fill the Third Ward seat left vacant by Council Member Vannie D. Parson, the first Black woman ever elected to Rahway's city council, who resigned effective April 22 with no public explanation. Her term ran through December 2028.

Under New Jersey law, when a council member resigns, their party's municipal committee — not voters — nominates three candidates and the full council picks one. The Rahway Democratic Committee submitted its three nominees on April 28:

Karla Timmons previously served as Second Ward councilwoman before stepping down in June 2025 after moving to a new address in the city. She'd be returning to the dais, now representing a different ward.

JoAnn Gemenden serves on Rahway's Zoning Board of Adjustment and brings established civic credentials to her candidacy.

Katherine Gonzalez is the longtime confidential aide to Mayor Raymond Giacobbe.

The Central Jerseyan will have full coverage of the vote on Tuesday.

Rahway Public Schools has been designated a Demonstration Site for New Jersey's Preschool Inclusive Education Project, making the district an official state model for inclusive early childhood education. The honor was announced at a state Inclusion Conference in late April and presented to the school board by Dr. Mykel Brooks, the district's director of early childhood education, who brought his entire preschool team to share the recognition. Inclusive preschool means students with disabilities learn alongside their non-disabled peers in general education classrooms. Rahway's inclusion rate has more than doubled over four years, jumping from 27% in 2021–22 to 59% in 2025–26.

The achievement didn't happen overnight. The district retrained staff, redesigned curriculum around social-emotional skills and Universal Design for Learning, built dedicated inclusion planning meetings between general and special education teachers, and even removed physical barriers between classroom types. As a Demonstration Site — recognized for two locations, not just one — Rahway will now open its classrooms to visitors and present its model to districts across the state. Superintendent Dr. Aleya Shoieb praised her team while also looking ahead, noting that the Pre-K to kindergarten transition remains an area for improvement and will be a key focus for the 2026–27 school year.

On Wednesday, May 6, the Edison Public Library’s North Edison Temporary Branch is hosting “History of Chocolate: From Mesoamerica to Artisanal Treats”. It’s a delicious, hour-long journey through chocolate’s 5,000-year history, presented by Discover Chocolate. The event runs from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room, and it’s free and open to teens and adults. Registration is recommended but not required.

The presentation covers chocolate’s Mesoamerican roots, how it’s made, and the distinctions between dark, milk, white, and ruby varieties — as well as Belgian, Swiss, and French styles. The highlight is a guided tasting featuring freshly crafted chocolates from a Somerville, NJ artisan chocolatier with 16 years of experience.

Attending supports the Edison Public Library, a cornerstone of the community. Full details and registration are available on the Edison Public Library website.

This week was a big one! It shows what this project can be at full strength. We broke down a chaotic school board meeting that led to a 6% tax hike, reported on how a local law kept 15 families housed after a devastating fire, and highlighted Rahway’s recognition as a statewide model for inclusive preschool. We’re also tracking the ongoing budget drama in Edison and what it means for your wallet.

That kind of consistent, on-the-ground reporting happens because readers step up. If you’ve been getting value from this coverage, now’s the moment to back it. A few more supporters would let us reinvest directly into better reporting, more stories, and a cleaner, ad-light experience.

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This week's trivia:  University and college commencements are around the corner. Rutgers University, headquartered in New Brunswick, is one of the oldest universities in the United States. In what year was it founded — and what was its original name at the time of its founding?

Last week’s trivia:  The answer is the Battle of Monmouth. Fought on June 28, 1778, in what is now Freehold Borough, the Battle of Monmouth was one of the largest engagements of the Revolutionary War. It was here that Mary Ludwig Hays — later immortalized as “Molly Pitcher” — reportedly carried water to Continental soldiers and took over her husband’s cannon after he collapsed from heat exhaustion. The battle ended inconclusively, but General Washington’s leadership helped restore confidence in the Continental Army.

Here’s the weather for the upcoming week:

☀️ Monday, May 4: A sunny and breezy day, feeling much milder — temperatures range from 51°F to 73°F.

🌤️ Tuesday, May 5: Mostly sunny and very warm with breezy conditions — temperatures range from 57°F to 83°F.

🌧️ Wednesday, May 6: Mostly cloudy with passing showers throughout the day — temperatures range from 62°F to 70°F.

🌧️ Thursday, May 7: Mostly cloudy with rain showers likely — temperatures range from 51°F to 63°F.

☁️ Friday, May 8: Cloudy and cool with occasional light showers — temperatures range from 46°F to 61°F.

🌧️ Saturday, May 9: Overcast skies with rain likely — temperatures range from 47°F to 55°F.

☀️ Sunday, May 10: Mostly sunny skies to close out the week for Mother's Day — temperatures range from 45°F to 60°F.

As always, you can see even more events on The Central Jerseyan website. See the full events calendar ➝ 

Have an event you’d like included in this newsletter or a tip for a local news story? You can reply to this newsletter or contact me here ➝ 

Have a great week!